Isaac N. Arnold

“ Lincoln, speaking of a friend who had married an old but very rich man, said: "I would rather marry a good man, a man of mind, with bright prospects for success, and power, and fame, than all the horses, and houses, and gold in the world." ”

“ In the great journal of things happening under the sun, we, the American people, find our account running under date of the nineteenth century of the Christian era. We find ourselves in the peaceful possession of the fairest portion of the earth, as regards extent of territory, fertility of soil, and salubrity of climate. We find ourselves under the government of a system of political institutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious liberty, than any of which the history of former times tells us. ”

“ Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. It sees no distinction in adding story to story, upon the monuments of fame, erected to the memory of others. It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. ”

“ At the close of that struggle, nearly every adult male had been a participator in some of its scenes. The consequence was, that of those scenes, in the form of a husband, a father, a son, or a brother, a living history was to be found in every family--a history bearing the indubitable testimonies to its own authenticity, in the limbs mangled, in the scars of wounds received in the midst of the very scenes related ”

“ When Miss Todd came to Springfield, nearly all ambitious young men sought distinction at the bar and in public life. Young ladies sympathized with this ambition to an extent scarcely appreciated at the present day. This young Lexington belle was very ambitious, and is said to have declared on leaving Kentucky that she meant to marry some one who would be President. On her arrival at Springfield she met in Lincoln a man of bright political prospects, already popular, and the leader of his party ”

“ I answer, if it ever reaches us, it must spring up among us. It can not come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time, or die by suicide... ”

“ There was a constant succession of brilliant anecdotes and funny stories, accompanied by loud laughter in which Van Buren bore his full share. "He also," says the Judge, "gave us incidents and anecdotes of Elisha Williams, and other leading members of the New York Bar, and going back to the days of Hamilton and Burr--altogether there was a right merry time, and Mr. Van Buren said the only drawback upon his enjoyment was that his sides were sore from laughing at Lincoln's stories for a week thereafter." ”

“ Lincoln, who had had his fancies, and his romantic passion for Anne Rutledge, now became the suitor of Miss Todd. His courtship was distinguished with the somewhat novel incident of a challenge to fight a duel.
At this time there was living at Springfield, James Shields, a gallant hot-headed bachelor, from Tyrone County, Ireland. Like most of his countrymen, he was an ardent democrat, and he was also a great beau in society. ”

“ And in short, let it become the political religion of the nation."
"There is," says he, "no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob-law." He then points out the dangers threatening our institutions, from military leaders and reckless ambition, and continues thus:
"Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task they should undertake, may ever be found, whose ambition would aspire to nothing beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or a presidential chair. ”

“ While encamped on its site he heard of the battle of Lexington, in the far East, "and named his infant settlement in its honor."↑ It is noteworthy that those who heard Lincoln talk, even at that early day, were impressed with his ability. I have heard old settlers in Springfield say, "every body wanted to get near Lincoln to hear him talk." An old gentleman told me that when dining one day at the same table with Miss Todd and Lincoln, he said to her after dinner, half in jest and half in earnest: "Mary, I have heard that you have said you want to marry a man who will be President. ”

“ In August, 1837, Stuart, his partner, was elected to Congress over Stephen A. Douglas, after one of the severest contests which ever occurred in the state. The district then extended from Springfield to Chicago, and embraced nearly all the northern part of Illinois. Stuart was re-elected in 1839. Their partnership terminated on the 14th day of April, 1841, and on the same day Lincoln entered into a new partnership with Judge Stephen T. Logan, one of the ablest and most successful lawyers of the state, and at that time universally recognized as at the head of the bar at the capital. ”

“ Stephen A. Douglas, John Calhoun, Josiah Lamborn, and Jesse B. Thomas spoke for the democrats, and Stephen T. Logan, Edward D. Baker, Orville H. Browning, and Lincoln for the whigs. It was continued from evening to evening, an advocate of each party speaking alternately, until Lincoln's turn came to close the discussion. In reply to Mr. Lamborn, who taunted the opponents of Van Buren with the hopelessness of their struggle, Lincoln exclaimed:
"Address that argument to cowards, and knaves. With the free and the brave it will effect nothing. It may be true; if it must, let it. ”

“ He took his defeat with good humor, saying, when he tried to nominate Baker: "I shall be fixed a good deal like the fellow who is made groomsman to the man who cut him out, and is marrying his own girl." [10] On this occasion Hardin, of Morgan County, was nominated and elected. In 1843, Baker was nominated and elected, and, in 1846, Lincoln was elected. Of these four members of Congress, Stuart alone survives, at the age of seventy-five years. The others all died by violence. ”

“ If so, Abe Lincoln is your man."--Author.↑ I speak from personal knowledge of this hotel.--Author.↑ Of Colonel Baker, the following incredible, but characteristic anecdote was current around the mess-table of the early circuit-riders and judges of Central Illinois. Soon after he settled in Springfield, a friend found him in the woods, seated on a fallen tree, weeping bitterly. On being pressed to tell the cause of his grief, he said: "I have been reading the Constitution of the United States, and I find a provision that none but native citizens can be President. ”

“ In 1779, John Todd arrived at Kaskaskia and organized civil government under the authority of Virginia. [5] It is a curious and interesting fact that the great-uncle of Mary Todd, afterwards wife of President Lincoln, should, in 1779, have been acting Governor of Illinois. He may be justly regarded as the founder of the state, a pioneer of progress, education, and liberty. [6] He was killed at the battle of Blue Licks, on the 18th of August, 1782. His two brothers, Levi and Robert, settled in Lexington, Kentucky. Levi was the grandfather of Mary Todd, afterwards Mrs. ”